Michelle Yeoh On How Fighting Stereotypes In Hollywood Paid Off
Michelle Yeoh, winner of the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role and Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture awards for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” poses in the press room during the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
Since the mega-success of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Michelle Yeoh has finally been getting the recognition she deserves. Her new American fans may not know the Malaysian actress has been in the industry for 40 years.
Kicking off Women’s History Month in the best possible way, Yeoh graced People‘s cover story for “Women Changing The World 2023.” Yeoh was born on August 6, 1962 in the city of Ipoh, known for tin mining. Her father, Kian Teik, was a lawyer and politician, and her mother, Janet, was a former beauty queen. Yeoh left Malaysia at 15 to study ballet at the Royal Academy of Dance in London. A spinal injury derailed her promising dance career.
After she returned home, her mother entered her in the 1983 Miss Malaysia pageant, which she won. While appearing on The Graham Norton Show last month, Yeoh cheekily revealed that the only reason she did it was to shut her mom up. That led to an audition for a commercial with Jackie Chan for French designer Guy Laroche, which she booked. Soon after, Yeoh was cast in her first movie in Hong Kong in the action-comedy The Owl vs. Bumbo.
“When I started off in 1984, women were relegated to being the damsel in distress,” she says. “We need to be protected, according to our guys. But then I would go, ‘No, guys, I think we can protect ourselves pretty well. And if push comes to shove, maybe I can protect you too.'”
Fast forward to her first Hollywood role in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies as Chinese spy Wai Lin with Pierce Brosnan. Yeoh says, “James Bond at that point had only been known as macho. The girls were just the ones with cutesy names.” In the film, Yeoh’s Wai Lin saves 007’s life and rejects his advances.
Offers began pouring in after the film. But Yeoh recalled, “people in the industry couldn’t really tell the difference between whether I was Chinese or Japanese or Korean, Or if I even spoke English. They would talk very loudly and very slow. I didn’t work for almost two years, until Crouching Tiger, simply because I could not agree with the stereotypical roles that were put forward to me.”
Yeoh’s recent casting as Madame Morrible in the film adaptation of Wicked is a product of the industry moving forward. “In the past, this role would’ve been for a Caucasian lady,” says Yeoh. “This is what we call diversity, inclusivity. This is how you make it work. It is a natural process — progress, evolution that we can have as storytellers.”
She’s grateful for where how far she has come. “A lot of actresses find, as the numbers get bigger, the roles start to dwindle. Over the last few years, I’m very proud that we have been breaking away from stereotypes. But it’s not just lip service. It is happening. And it’s happening to me.”
As tears begin falling, she concludes, “You go from shock to bewilderment. ‘Wow, is it me? How can it be me?’ Because I’ve worked with so many amazing actresses who should have had this privilege. So I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to sit at the table and to be seen.”
Michelle Yeoh's Best Movies, Ranked
Since making her debut in Hong Kong action films in the mid-’80s (Yes, Madam!, Royal Warriors), Michelle Yeoh emerged as a budding action star. The Malaysian actress battled Jet Li in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, flung herself onto a moving car driven by Jackie Chan in Supercop and jumped off a skyscraper with Pierce Brosnan’s James Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies. She had starring roles in 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2018’s Crazy Rich Asians and two roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The now 60-year-old Yeoh will next be seen in the second Avatar film, The Way of Water, out in theaters Friday, December 15. Many people may have caught a movie Michelle Yeoh was in, but it wasn’t until this March’s Everything Everywhere All at Once that people really started to notice and gave her her flowers.
In Everything Everywhere, Yeoh plays a character by the name of Evelyn Wang, whose laundromat business is being audited by the IRS. Her relationship with her daughter is frayed, she takes care of her decrepit father and she takes her husband’s love for her for granted. Everything changes when she learns there are multiple versions of the universe and that there’s a threat to them that only she can stop. The only problem is, she has to figure out how to jump between the different realities all while picking up skills the other versions of herself possess. Though the A24 film is filled with action and hilarious yet bizarre instances, Yeoh shows that she’s not just a martial artist, showcasing her acting ability in intimate moments. Jamie Lee Curtis, who played the irritable IRS worker Deirdre Beaubeirdra said it best: “Her facility to switch between comedy and martial arts and then real emotion. I challenge anybody to come up with a better performance.”
In her Time‘s Icon of the Year honor for 2022, Yeoh told the publication why Asian actors have long been given stereotypical or inconsequential roles and rarely top billing. “It shouldn’t be about my race, but it has been a battle,” she says. “At least let me try.” Though Yeoh has been a major star in Asia for decades, she landed her first major Hollywood role as Wai Lin, the Chinese secret agent in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies.
Take a look below at our favorite Michelle Yeoh movies, which we’ve ranked:
Laila Abuelhawa is the Top 40 and Hip-Hop pop culture writer for Beasley Media Group. Being with the company for over three years, Laila's fierce and fabulous red-carpet rankings have earned her a feature on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!' Her favorite stories are those surrounding the latest in celebrity fashion, television and film rankings, and how the world reacts to major celebrity news. With a background in journalism, Laila's stories ensure accuracy and offer background information on stars that you wouldn't have otherwise known. She prides herself in covering stories that inform the public about what is currently happening and what is to come in the ever-changing, ever-evolving media landscape.
